Cattitude - Episode 294 National Cat Health Month: Monitoring Health from the Litter Box

<v Speaker 1>This is pet Life Radio.
<v Speaker 2>Let's talk pets. This episode of Catitude is brought to
<v Speaker 2>you by Pretty Litter, World's smartest cat litter.
<v Speaker 3>Hello, Blai lovers, Welcome to Catitude. I'm your show host,
<v Speaker 3>Michelle bern And what great day I have. First of all,
<v Speaker 3>it's Friday the thirteenth, when we're recording always a special day.
<v Speaker 2>I think it's a special.
<v Speaker 3>Day for cats. Don't ask me why, I just do.
<v Speaker 3>And I have a very special guest, and we're going
<v Speaker 3>to talk about a product that not only is it
<v Speaker 3>great for the pet parent, it's great for your cat too.
<v Speaker 3>So stay tuned, we'll be right back.
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<v Speaker 3>Welcome back, Gabyone. I'd like to welcome Jennifer Cookson. She
<v Speaker 3>is the director of R and D Innovation at Pretty Litter.
<v Speaker 3>Welcome Jennifer.
<v Speaker 2>Thank you, Michelle. It's great to be on.
<v Speaker 3>I'm so excited to have you. Can you share a
<v Speaker 3>little about your background with our listeners?
<v Speaker 2>Sure? So, I don't come from a traditional cat litter
<v Speaker 2>background or pet care background. I am a material scientist
<v Speaker 2>that started out in the cosmetic and personal care space.
<v Speaker 2>There is though a lot of overlap in the science
<v Speaker 2>between making a lotion surprisingly or deodorant in building out
<v Speaker 2>cat litter. So it's been an interesting transition. But I'm
<v Speaker 2>excited to be in the field and to be supporting
<v Speaker 2>Pretty Litter.
<v Speaker 3>Well, I'm excited to have you on. Do you have
<v Speaker 3>cats yourself?
<v Speaker 2>I do, And I was very nervous because it is
<v Speaker 2>feeding time that she would be making some sounds and
<v Speaker 2>appearances on this episode.
<v Speaker 3>That's fine, Hey, we're all about me out, Okay, So
<v Speaker 3>let's talk about cat litter. There are a lot of
<v Speaker 3>cat litters out there, and pretty is of course often
<v Speaker 3>described as a smart cat litter. So from a science standpoint,
<v Speaker 3>what makes it different than traditional litter.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so traditional litters are I would say passive, right.
<v Speaker 2>Their main function is to absorb moisture and control odor,
<v Speaker 2>but they don't interact with the biology of what's happening
<v Speaker 2>in the box. So pretty litter is engineered as a
<v Speaker 2>functional substrate, the amorphasilica. It works to absorb moisture and
<v Speaker 2>control odor like litter because of its high surface area
<v Speaker 2>and rapid absorption, but layered into that is also a
<v Speaker 2>pH responsive indicator that is designed to react to biochemical
<v Speaker 2>shifts in urine, so let's say pH for instance, So
<v Speaker 2>instead of just trapping waste, it can translate certain changes
<v Speaker 2>into something visible. So that's the real distinction. It's not
<v Speaker 2>just a passive litter, it's it's responsive to your cat's biology.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, thanks for telling us that information about pretty litter.
<v Speaker 3>Let's talk about why it's so important to know about
<v Speaker 3>your cat's help because cats there's two things. So one
<v Speaker 3>they're often thought of as an afterthought in pet care.
<v Speaker 3>They're getting better, but that's still kind of the case.
<v Speaker 3>And then the other thing is that cats are very
<v Speaker 3>stoic creatures. They hide what's going on with them. I
<v Speaker 3>had that happen with my cat, really scary situation. So
<v Speaker 3>let's go the first question. Why do you think that
<v Speaker 3>cats have been considered an afterthought in pet care?
<v Speaker 2>I'm not sure if I would characterize it as an
<v Speaker 2>afterthought so much as it is very difficult to treat felines, right. They,
<v Speaker 2>like you mentioned, they're stoic. They tend to hide symptoms
<v Speaker 2>until it becomes either critical or an emergency, and then
<v Speaker 2>they're not well known to play nice at the event, right,
<v Speaker 2>So care can be very difficult for a cat. I
<v Speaker 2>myself probably don't have as rigorous as that routine as
<v Speaker 2>my dog does because of those matters. I think a
<v Speaker 2>lot of individuals tend to think of cats as being
<v Speaker 2>able to take care of themselves.
<v Speaker 4>Right.
<v Speaker 2>They were bred to hunt mice and kind of be
<v Speaker 2>these independent creatures. So I don't know so much if
<v Speaker 2>it's an afterthought as much as a characterization of cats
<v Speaker 2>and their personalities that make them seem very strong, much
<v Speaker 2>stronger than they actually are.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah. In other words, they fake us out all the time. Yes,
<v Speaker 3>So now let's talk about that. Since they're such stoic creatures,
<v Speaker 3>and they're so hard to understand when it comes to
<v Speaker 3>their help. And for all the misunderstandings us as cat parents,
<v Speaker 3>there can cat levers have, even those of us that
<v Speaker 3>know a lot about cats. Why is early detection so important? Then,
<v Speaker 3>most cat parents think.
<v Speaker 2>Well, early detection is a very good tool to prevent
<v Speaker 2>having crisis or emergency situations. Cats can become dehydrated very quickly, right,
<v Speaker 2>So if you start to notice changes in the output
<v Speaker 2>of their urine, let's say, or even the pH because
<v Speaker 2>they're dehydrated, it is critical that you are able to
<v Speaker 2>track trends and patterns that maybe you're seeing in the
<v Speaker 2>litter box to then articulate that to your vet before
<v Speaker 2>it becomes a crisis.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, thanks, So how does pretty litter work?
<v Speaker 2>So pretty litter highlights changes in urine pH so it
<v Speaker 2>can tell you if the urine is becoming more alkaline
<v Speaker 2>or more acidic, and those changes over time. So tracking
<v Speaker 2>how it looks over time can really be a good
<v Speaker 2>insight into cat health. For instance, if the cat has
<v Speaker 2>let's say, urinary crystal stones that form, right, that tends
<v Speaker 2>to happen when the pH of the urine becomes more alkaline,
<v Speaker 2>and so if you're starting to see that change, that
<v Speaker 2>is typical. So blue with the pretty litter would be
<v Speaker 2>the color. If you're starting to see consistently blue spots
<v Speaker 2>where the cat is peeting, you know that might be
<v Speaker 2>a flag to say, hey, I'm going to talk to
<v Speaker 2>my vet to see if this is something we should
<v Speaker 2>look into. Right, because the more facilica crystal is also clear,
<v Speaker 2>it is able to detect blood, which off is not
<v Speaker 2>observed in your regular clay substrates, and so blood is
<v Speaker 2>always a concern when you see it, whether it be
<v Speaker 2>in the uriner feces, and so that again is one
<v Speaker 2>of those early indicators of let me call my vet
<v Speaker 2>and have a conversation. It is in no way to
<v Speaker 2>replace regular vet visit, but is it a tool that
<v Speaker 2>can help you to have more direct and proactive conversations
<v Speaker 2>with your vet.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, So cat parents that tri pretty litters should not
<v Speaker 3>see colors and panic. This is just an indication of hey,
<v Speaker 3>this is a sign to maybe go ahead and get
<v Speaker 3>your cat checked out.
<v Speaker 2>Of the vat correct and cat urine phs actually can
<v Speaker 2>be very variable. It can change dependent on how often
<v Speaker 2>they eat, how much they eat, If they're stressed. So
<v Speaker 2>it's more about looking at patterns. So is it consistently
<v Speaker 2>very alkaline that would be a red flag? Is it
<v Speaker 2>consistently very acidic that could also be a red flag? Right,
<v Speaker 2>So it is more about having this be more part
<v Speaker 2>of your routine to track trends than it is a
<v Speaker 2>you know, red flag. Right away, we don't want to
<v Speaker 2>scare pet parents.
<v Speaker 3>Right now, Let's talk about the components of pretty litter.
<v Speaker 3>So pretty litter contains silica, and that is sometimes a
<v Speaker 3>red flag for some pet parents. Is it safe? One
<v Speaker 3>of the misconceptions that maybe were heard out there in
<v Speaker 3>internet and other news.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so not all silicas are created equal. So one
<v Speaker 2>of the biggest misconceptions is that, And in fact, pretty
<v Speaker 2>literally uses something called amorphous silica, which is non toxic
<v Speaker 2>and safe for everyday use. It is actually used in
<v Speaker 2>foodstocks and widely using consumer products and considered again non
<v Speaker 2>toxic when handled appropriately, and I think it unfortunately gets
<v Speaker 2>conflated with crystalline silica, which is a hazard. Crystalline silica
<v Speaker 2>is kind of the you know, it has a consistent
<v Speaker 2>uniform pattern and kind of this jagonist to it versus
<v Speaker 2>a MorphOS silica as it says, it doesn't have a
<v Speaker 2>uniform shape and therefore doesn't have the same health hazards
<v Speaker 2>as crystalline silica.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, and other things pet parents might be concerned about
<v Speaker 3>with pretty litter as far as dust control and as
<v Speaker 3>far as safety to their cats.
<v Speaker 2>Sure, So this is an interesting one that I recently
<v Speaker 2>worked with our social media team to launch a video
<v Speaker 2>on because the question came up so much in terms
<v Speaker 2>of dust. So we actually had a third party lab
<v Speaker 2>conduct a test for us where we stimulated use of
<v Speaker 2>pretty litter, so pouring, sifting, stirring, scooping, and the person
<v Speaker 2>that was doing that or a monitor within what is
<v Speaker 2>called the breathing zone, so areas that would you know,
<v Speaker 2>any particles or dust would enter into the lungs through
<v Speaker 2>the nose mouth. And in addition to that, we also
<v Speaker 2>monitored the ambient air, so the air around the litter box.
<v Speaker 2>How much was you know, dusting up into the environment
<v Speaker 2>around you. What was really reassuring was that the results
<v Speaker 2>for pretty litter were often below the detection limit of
<v Speaker 2>the instrument. The instrument couldn't even detect us because it
<v Speaker 2>was well below that detection limit. The ambient air also
<v Speaker 2>saw no significant change from background, no spikes, and all
<v Speaker 2>of the people that were pouring noted that if there
<v Speaker 2>was a minimal dust cloud, it dissipated much more quickly
<v Speaker 2>than the other clay substrates we tested. So inherently our
<v Speaker 2>product is lower dust than some of the leading clay
<v Speaker 2>brands based on that test, and it has been demonstrated
<v Speaker 2>in my lab for doing dustiness testing to be safe
<v Speaker 2>in terms of not having small particles inhalable particles free
<v Speaker 2>from those So I think that also has been a
<v Speaker 2>little bit of a misconception that we hope we can
<v Speaker 2>we can start to have a dialogue around with the
<v Speaker 2>pet parents.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, thank you, Okay, we're gonna take a short break.
<v Speaker 3>We'll be right back.
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<v Speaker 3>Welcome back, everyone, and we're talking to Jennifer Cookson. She
<v Speaker 3>is the director of R and D Innovation at Pretty Litter. Jennifer,
<v Speaker 3>you've given us some great information. So we're talking about
<v Speaker 3>pretty Litter and let me ask you this. You know,
<v Speaker 3>some people might think, well, you know, I've always used
<v Speaker 3>this litter and maybe this is just a trend. I
<v Speaker 3>don't know, what would you say to people that are
<v Speaker 3>skeptical in that this is really a great tool to
<v Speaker 3>not substitute for the vet, but to aid you in
<v Speaker 3>having conversations with your vet in you know, giving you
<v Speaker 3>a glimpse as to your cat might have something and
<v Speaker 3>this will tell you what to be aware of.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So you know, the founder of our company, Daniel,
<v Speaker 2>he has a story that he tells about his cat
<v Speaker 2>that ended up passing away from a urinary trek issue
<v Speaker 2>and how and that really inspired him right to create
<v Speaker 2>this product that could be this tool to screen, to
<v Speaker 2>be a preventative method, to to be able to say
<v Speaker 2>that your cat may have something wrong and to have
<v Speaker 2>those conversations with your vet. You know, as I discussed
<v Speaker 2>earlier Clay substrate. You know, while it's great that it
<v Speaker 2>clumps and a lot of people have, you know, different
<v Speaker 2>reasons why they select it, it unfortunately is not able
<v Speaker 2>to show you changes in the cats urine pH or blood.
<v Speaker 2>Actually blood is again very much can sealed in that
<v Speaker 2>clay substrate. And so I actually started using pretty Litter
<v Speaker 2>before I joined the company, and I had done it
<v Speaker 2>proactively because I have a cat. She is now thirteen,
<v Speaker 2>and so I was concerned as she got older that
<v Speaker 2>she would potentially have issues and I would miss them,
<v Speaker 2>right because again cats are stoic, and maybe one day
<v Speaker 2>I'd see her and she was lethargic and that would
<v Speaker 2>be a cue, but maybe by then it would be
<v Speaker 2>too late. And so for me, I thought it was
<v Speaker 2>a simple way to integrate something into our routine that
<v Speaker 2>wasn't cost prohibitive, it didn't compromise performance, and could give
<v Speaker 2>me that peace of mind.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, great information, thank you, so Jennifer. There's so many
<v Speaker 3>wonder things that pretty Litter does. What do you do
<v Speaker 3>if you have multi CAATs like so many of us do,
<v Speaker 3>That's a tough one. So I actually introduced my sister,
<v Speaker 3>who has three cats, to pretty Litter. She is somebody
<v Speaker 3>who maintains multiple boxes for her cats. But the performance
<v Speaker 3>of pretty Litter can accommodate multi cat households. If you
<v Speaker 3>look at our loyalty base, actually most individuals have on
<v Speaker 3>average two cats. So this is a product that is
<v Speaker 3>geared towards multi cat and I think my sister, if
<v Speaker 3>she's listening in, is proof of that. And the trade
<v Speaker 3>for her was actually very surprising. You know, she was
<v Speaker 3>concerned about oversaturation potentially and you know the cost. But
<v Speaker 3>I got this funny phone call from her where she said,
<v Speaker 3>oh my god, I don't have to carry out so
<v Speaker 3>she has the litter genie, right, and she said, I
<v Speaker 3>don't have to carry out like ten pounds of little
<v Speaker 3>clay chunks that I've scooped out from the cats this week.
<v Speaker 3>She's like, it's unbelievable. Right, So there's these small benefits
<v Speaker 3>that I think multicat parents see when they start using
<v Speaker 3>pretty litter that goes beyond just the health monitoring.
<v Speaker 2>That can be really surprising for people.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, thanks, And even if you have multi like I
<v Speaker 3>have three, what about if you have three cats and
<v Speaker 3>you do have multiple boxes, two cats generally tend to
<v Speaker 3>prefer the same And what if you have two cats
<v Speaker 3>that like the same one, Yeah, kind of still tell no.
<v Speaker 2>Unfortunately, that becomes the challenge right, unless you are like
<v Speaker 2>actively following your cat and saying, okay, I'm watching it, Pete,
<v Speaker 2>this is the color change, and going to attribute it
<v Speaker 2>to that. Unfortunately, when you have multi cat households, when
<v Speaker 2>you're starting to look at patterns, it's not as easy
<v Speaker 2>to just design it to one cat, especially if they
<v Speaker 2>tend to use the same litter box, despite if you're
<v Speaker 2>offering multiple litter boxes. So it does become a bit
<v Speaker 2>of a challenge. But I do think that you know,
<v Speaker 2>for me, for instance, or my sister, that peace of
<v Speaker 2>mind of seeing something that may be alarming, despite not
<v Speaker 2>being able to attribute it to one of her cats,
<v Speaker 2>is still something she values.
<v Speaker 3>I mean, anything with cat help is very valuable. Does
<v Speaker 3>pretty little change color right away.
<v Speaker 2>It does, within thirty seconds, you'll start to see a
<v Speaker 2>color change, and it can persist up to twenty four hours.
<v Speaker 2>So we recommend that you're stirring the substrate every day,
<v Speaker 2>and that's part of of you know, you're not scooping
<v Speaker 2>like you would with clay, so you're just kind of stirring,
<v Speaker 2>and that is that time that you're looking and seeing,
<v Speaker 2>oh you know, what is that color? Okay, I noted,
<v Speaker 2>So that is our recommendation and how it fits into
<v Speaker 2>kind of that monitoring element.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and since pretty little changes right away, and if
<v Speaker 3>you're curious, to me, it's not a big deal with
<v Speaker 3>my cat piece to go look in the box and say, Okay,
<v Speaker 3>this one is turning you know, blue a lot and
<v Speaker 3>this one's pea. You know, it changes right away, so
<v Speaker 3>that's not a big deal. I mean, you won't always
<v Speaker 3>know when your cat's using the box, but it changes
<v Speaker 3>right away, so it's not a big deal to follow
<v Speaker 3>your cat, wait till they're done, go in the box
<v Speaker 3>and just note it.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, give them their privacy and then check it out.
<v Speaker 3>Yes, they like their privacy, that's for sure. It's always
<v Speaker 3>so funny to me when my cat turns around she's
<v Speaker 3>face in the wall and just peeing. It's like, Okay,
<v Speaker 3>they just want their space. That's just how they are.
<v Speaker 2>It's very funny. So I did a very kind of
<v Speaker 2>like citizen science experiment where I monitored my cat's lure
<v Speaker 2>box with a motion detect camera and also a dust
<v Speaker 2>monitor because I was really deep into this, like how
<v Speaker 2>dusty is pretty litter And it was really insightful in
<v Speaker 2>terms of a the exposure levels, which were you know,
<v Speaker 2>nothing near you know, nonexistent, but mostly the pattern that
<v Speaker 2>she was so routine in terms of like the time
<v Speaker 2>in the morning she'd go, you know how short somewhere
<v Speaker 2>where other times it seemed like she was just having
<v Speaker 2>fun in there. So it was it was an interesting experiment,
<v Speaker 2>but also learned a lot about cat behavior.
<v Speaker 3>You know, Pretty Litter needs to come up with cameras,
<v Speaker 3>because that's interesting. There's so many cameras these days that
<v Speaker 3>you can put and they're not that expensive, and that's
<v Speaker 3>a great way to monitor your cat's health with pretty
<v Speaker 3>litterary because even multi cat it's you know, recording, so
<v Speaker 3>you could just take.
<v Speaker 2>A look exactly. Yeah, you know, a lot.
<v Speaker 3>Of times pet parents are not that you know, they're
<v Speaker 3>anxious about their cats. They either don't worry at all,
<v Speaker 3>or they're anxious all the time because we don't know
<v Speaker 3>what's going on with them. How does pretty Litter work
<v Speaker 3>to kind of alleviate the pet parents from this anxiety
<v Speaker 3>make empower them to feel more confident.
<v Speaker 2>I think that we always emphasize that this is not
<v Speaker 2>a diagnostic tool, that this really is a way to monitor,
<v Speaker 2>and so I think, you know, maybe just the framing
<v Speaker 2>of that makes this more positive than it is negative, right,
<v Speaker 2>that it can reduce the anxiety, perhaps because it's not
<v Speaker 2>like you're taking, you know, a test that's going to
<v Speaker 2>say you have X, Y and Z. It's really about
<v Speaker 2>kind of integrating it into your everyday routine. I don't
<v Speaker 2>know if that's this is I guess more in terms
<v Speaker 2>of like a consumer behavior and you know, a psychological thing,
<v Speaker 2>but I do believe that reduces a lot of the
<v Speaker 2>anxiety that can be part of pet and cat parenthood.
<v Speaker 3>I think you're right. It makes the cat parent feel like,
<v Speaker 3>you know, I might not know everything that's going on
<v Speaker 3>with this cute little fluffball, but I have something that
<v Speaker 3>I can monitor on a regular basis that can give
<v Speaker 3>me signals, whereas my cute little cat does not. So
<v Speaker 3>let's talk more about pretty litter. What did you find
<v Speaker 3>as a scientist, what did you find out about pretty
<v Speaker 3>litter that was really amazing to you as far as
<v Speaker 3>what goes into developing the product and improving on the
<v Speaker 3>product that most people wouldn't even think about.
<v Speaker 2>So as a material scientist, I would say the amorphosilica
<v Speaker 2>itself has been really interesting and surprising to work with.
<v Speaker 2>So there is a process that makes the amorphacilica gel
<v Speaker 2>that it's you know, has multiple steps in it. However,
<v Speaker 2>one slight change in it from whether it be pH temperature,
<v Speaker 2>how long you hold the gel in the process can
<v Speaker 2>result in a very different outcome in the particle and
<v Speaker 2>the surface of the particle and how it actually performs
<v Speaker 2>for a consumer. And so it's been fascinating to look
<v Speaker 2>at a bag of let's say, an amorphasilica from Walmart
<v Speaker 2>their you know, private label and ours and see how
<v Speaker 2>dramatically different they are. As a scientist, I've done things
<v Speaker 2>like scanning electron microscopy, which is looking at the surface
<v Speaker 2>of these things fifty thousand times really granular, and the
<v Speaker 2>difference in the scope across the silica caut litter category
<v Speaker 2>is tremendous. It might not look at on the visual
<v Speaker 2>from the consumer eye, but it is from that microscopic perspective,
<v Speaker 2>which then translates to a consumer experience. So that's been
<v Speaker 2>fascinating to actually see material science being linked directly to
<v Speaker 2>a consumer outcome has been really, really great.
<v Speaker 3>And that has been fascinating to hear. I never really
<v Speaker 3>paid much attention to morphasilica or silica, except for isn't
<v Speaker 3>it silica that comes in little bags to keep moisture out?
<v Speaker 2>It does.
<v Speaker 3>Yes, that's what I know about silica. That's probably what
<v Speaker 3>most of us listening know about silica. So who knew?
<v Speaker 3>So let's talk about since pretty litter to me is
<v Speaker 3>it's a help monitoring litter. That's what it is. How
<v Speaker 3>do you see pretty litter and feline health monitor evolving
<v Speaker 3>over the next few years. What do you see for
<v Speaker 3>the future.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I guess we don't want to reveal too much,
<v Speaker 2>but you know, we are constantly we are constantly in
<v Speaker 2>conversation with pet parents but also vets. It's important for
<v Speaker 2>us to hear from vets to what they think are
<v Speaker 2>areas that are gaps in the industry and so having
<v Speaker 2>better detection for other symptoms, whether that be renal health
<v Speaker 2>to diabetes, to occult blood which a cult blood is
<v Speaker 2>blood that you can't see. Those are becoming more important
<v Speaker 2>for both pet parents and vets to see as being
<v Speaker 2>those preventative or not preventative, but really early indications of
<v Speaker 2>why you should bring your pet into see a VET.
<v Speaker 2>And so I think looking at more of how we
<v Speaker 2>can have health monitoring be more acute for the pet
<v Speaker 2>parent is part of I think our roadmap for the future.
<v Speaker 2>I think, you know, we have kind of an inside
<v Speaker 2>vision of banishing the ugly? Does that look like in
<v Speaker 2>terms of you know, pet parenthood, whether it be litter,
<v Speaker 2>whether it be grooming, whether it be things that are
<v Speaker 2>more towards We jokingly have like the back of the
<v Speaker 2>cat in the front of the cat that we refer
<v Speaker 2>to products on right now we're dealing with the back
<v Speaker 2>of the cat. Well, you know, what are things that
<v Speaker 2>involve health monitoring and peace of mind for pet parents
<v Speaker 2>and can banish the ugly? You know that is prospecting
<v Speaker 2>in a litter box, right that are end to end,
<v Speaker 2>from cat head to end. So I think, you know,
<v Speaker 2>there's a lot of things we're working on and a
<v Speaker 2>lot of ideas we've got in the pipeline, and I'm
<v Speaker 2>excited to be shepherding them into our twenty twenty six
<v Speaker 2>and beyond.
<v Speaker 3>Well I'm excited too. You know, you're a cat parent,
<v Speaker 3>you're also a scientist. You help develop and improve Pretty Litter,
<v Speaker 3>which is a cat monitoring system, which is something so
<v Speaker 3>crucial to you know, be aware of with your cats.
<v Speaker 3>So we have lots and lots of cat parents listening
<v Speaker 3>and maybe soon to be cat parents. If you could
<v Speaker 3>tell them you should change this one habit after listening
<v Speaker 3>to today's episode, what would you tell them? Of course,
<v Speaker 3>I have bit related to their.
<v Speaker 2>Cats, I know. I mean that's a tough one without
<v Speaker 2>just like you know, overtly promoting pretty litter. I have
<v Speaker 2>found that, beyond the health monitoring, pretty litter also fits
<v Speaker 2>a lifestyle. Right, So I am somebody who appreciates that
<v Speaker 2>I don't have to scoop out clumps of urine every day, right.
<v Speaker 2>I love that I only have to change it every
<v Speaker 2>four weeks. There's a certain behavior that saves time for
<v Speaker 2>me that I really love but also provides for my cat. Right,
<v Speaker 2>it saves time without impacting my cat's health and well being.
<v Speaker 2>You know that, I guess is is not necessarily a
<v Speaker 2>thing to change, but you know, kind of an overt
<v Speaker 2>promotion for pretty litter.
<v Speaker 3>Well a little bit more though, I'm curious, and I'm
<v Speaker 3>sure you know all the cats levers are curious. We
<v Speaker 3>talked about how pretty litter actually works, because we didn't
<v Speaker 3>talk about the scooping part or not scooping, and how
<v Speaker 3>it lasts for four weeks, but we talked about the
<v Speaker 3>science of it. So how does one use pretty litter?
<v Speaker 3>I know it's available just about everywhere.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so you can get a six or eight ton
<v Speaker 2>bag and we are soon to be launching a pale
<v Speaker 2>size than twelve pounds, And basically the idea is to
<v Speaker 2>create two inches of litter in your litter box. So generally,
<v Speaker 2>for me, the six pound bag creates a two inch
<v Speaker 2>litter layer in my cat's covered litter box. So I
<v Speaker 2>have it delivered to me because I am part of
<v Speaker 2>a subscription which I've maintained prior to my employment. So
<v Speaker 2>every four weeks, I get delivered a six pound box
<v Speaker 2>and that's kind of my trigger to know, Okay, I
<v Speaker 2>got to empty out the other one. But the idea
<v Speaker 2>is that you're scooping out the poop and things that
<v Speaker 2>you visually see, but the urine is being absorbed into
<v Speaker 2>the crystal, so the crystal itself can hold two hundred
<v Speaker 2>x its weight in water. And so that's why you
<v Speaker 2>know it's funny, because I've walked people through the math
<v Speaker 2>of how it lasts this long, and it gets kind
<v Speaker 2>of nerdy, But you know, you think about a cat
<v Speaker 2>piece x milli liters per day based on its weight, right,
<v Speaker 2>and if you have x grams pretty litter, it's going
<v Speaker 2>to absorb you know, that much over the course of
<v Speaker 2>this duration. And so that's kind of the calculation that
<v Speaker 2>I've made in terms of my recommendation to people, but
<v Speaker 2>anecdotally and using it, you know, for now five plus years,
<v Speaker 2>I know that it lasts me about four and a
<v Speaker 2>half weeks for my cat, and then I change it
<v Speaker 2>out and replace it and start the clock starts again.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, and what about the odor?
<v Speaker 2>Oh, so the odor is also trapped in the crystal,
<v Speaker 2>which is great. So Amorphousa does a really great job
<v Speaker 2>of actually it's really good at ammonia control, but it's
<v Speaker 2>also really good at odor control in general. And so
<v Speaker 2>love that we have the unscented version and then we
<v Speaker 2>have safe, lightly scented versions that don't smell like cat litter.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know if you've ever had that issue, Michelle,
<v Speaker 2>where you know, when you buy cat litters, it has
<v Speaker 2>a fragrance that doesn't remind you anything more than just
<v Speaker 2>cat litter. You're kind of like, okay, we're just trying
<v Speaker 2>to cover up poop. And so I've appreciated kind of
<v Speaker 2>the light sense to no sense that Pretty Little offers,
<v Speaker 2>but also the odor control. You know, I'm never smelling
<v Speaker 2>it or having guests make a comment, which has been fantastic.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, wonderful. Also another question, so say your cat's using
<v Speaker 3>the pretty litter in the cat box and your cat
<v Speaker 3>peas and it turns a color. It's absorbed right away,
<v Speaker 3>but does the color remain.
<v Speaker 2>The color will remain for about twenty four to thirty
<v Speaker 2>six hours, but it will fade over time. There is
<v Speaker 2>kind of this inherent color indicator to the silicad that
<v Speaker 2>you'll know when it's done because all of the litter
<v Speaker 2>right will be a different kind of like little bit
<v Speaker 2>yellowy orange color. And that's, you know, another visual indicator
<v Speaker 2>to say, okay, we need to get new litter. So
<v Speaker 2>it kind of has its own mechanism built in to
<v Speaker 2>also tell you when you probably need to change out
<v Speaker 2>the litter.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, great information. Now you have a great website where
<v Speaker 3>can people find out more about pretty Litter.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so we have our website PrettyLitter dot com where
<v Speaker 2>they can go. We have a lot of information so
<v Speaker 2>on the bag itself to provide you with insights in
<v Speaker 2>terms of the color shifts and ranges that are indicative
<v Speaker 2>of like pH and so there's a lot of information there.
<v Speaker 2>We're very active on social media, so TikTok and Instagram
<v Speaker 2>where we have cameos by vets that can provide tips, tricks,
<v Speaker 2>all of that, and obviously always happy to engage with
<v Speaker 2>followers and people reaching out for questions. Our CX team
<v Speaker 2>is great at being extremely responsive and quick, so anytime
<v Speaker 2>anybody has a question, they can reach out via our website.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, and where can our listeners buy pretty Litter?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so pretty Litter is offered online. We also are
<v Speaker 2>on Amazon, and we are offered in select retailers like Target, Walmart,
<v Speaker 2>and we are expanding our distribution to a few other
<v Speaker 2>retail locations very soon. In this twenty twenty six.
<v Speaker 3>Year and Jennifer, I want to thank you and thanks
<v Speaker 3>to everybody at pretty Litter because we have a special
<v Speaker 3>offer for everyone listening. Everyone. If you go to PrettyLitter
<v Speaker 3>dot com and you put in the promo code pecked
<v Speaker 3>life that's all caps, pecked life, you'll get twenty percent
<v Speaker 3>off your first order. Jennifer, thank you and thanks to
<v Speaker 3>everyone at pretty Litter for this wonderful offer. Thank you
<v Speaker 3>Michelle Jennifer, thank you so much for coming on Cutitude
<v Speaker 3>and sharing this great information about pretty Litter. I hope
<v Speaker 3>everyone enjoyed the show and I want to thank Pretty
<v Speaker 3>Litter again for this wonderful offer. So just go to
<v Speaker 3>PrettyLitter dot com use the promo code pecked life. That's
<v Speaker 3>all caps, pet ife all caps for twenty percent off
<v Speaker 3>your first order. So fantastic offer. Thank you, Pretty Litter,
<v Speaker 3>And of course thanks to my cat crew Dennis, Charlotte
<v Speaker 3>and Mollie. They've been using Pretty Litter. They love it.
<v Speaker 3>It's been interesting. I've learned a lot about them and
<v Speaker 3>it's given me some things to you know, watch the
<v Speaker 3>pattern for because you know, Dennis is old, he's like seventeen,
<v Speaker 3>so great stuff. So again, thanks Pretty Litter. I want
<v Speaker 3>to give a thank you to everyone listening and supporting CATATU.
<v Speaker 3>Thank you so much. And of course the show would
<v Speaker 3>not be the same without the magic of Mark Winter.
<v Speaker 3>Thank you Mark, and remember lose to hatitude, have cautitudes.
<v Speaker 5>Let's talk pets every week on demand only on pet
<v Speaker 5>live radio dot com.
<v Speaker 3>The luver La